1.14.2010

The buzz is out about a film that’s premiered in Europe and is finally landing in the US. North Face: the Movie is receiving rave reviews for its realism in story-telling and action. For a mountaineering film to get those accolades from real mountaineers, not actors playing it up, is something to sit up and take notice.

The Eiger is no stranger to either filmmakers or alpinists. In July of 1936 Nazi Germany, as propaganda for the Summer Olympics, organized a European competition for any mountaineer to be the first to climb the Eiger North Face. Known as the Murder Wall, top German climbers Toni Kurz and Andi Hinterstoisser set out with the Austrian team of Willy Angerer and Edi Rainier hot on their heels.

Based on a true story, director Philipp Stölzl propels the viewer out of the Hollywood comfort zone and onto the cliff face. From setting the first piton to the now named Hinterstoisser Traverse to the encroaching weather and its dangers, the story is told with an unflinching eye tuned to the realities of the vertical world and its challenges.

Not to be missed. Premiering across the US on January 29th, the American Mountaineering Museum cohosts with the American Alpine Club to offer a FREE screening of the film at the American Mountaineering Center Friday, January 29th. The film begins at 6 PM in the Foss Auditorium with a Museum reception at 5 PM.

Again, not to be missed! While it’s in German with English subtitles once the climbing begins you won’t be too concerned with reading.